The present invention relates generally to the field of sports helmets, and in particular, to a new and useful video camera housing and helmet combination for a football helmet that meets National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) standards and is otherwise specially suited to use on the football field.
All professional and scholastic level football helmets must meet NOCSAE standards. In view of these stringent requirements, care must be take before adding or removing structures to such helmets.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,819,354 to Foster et al., assigned to Omnivision Technologies, Inc. and entitled Completely integrated helmet camera, discloses a camera housing mountable to a helmet. The camera housing contains a single-chip image sensor and includes an attaching unit that is structured to allow the camera housing to be attached to an existing structure of the helmet, such as to a face mask of a helmet. The camera housing extends above the face guard and forward of the helmet shell.
GoPro brand video cameras have found favor with various active people and sports for mounting on head gear, equipment and garments, to record action videos of the sport or activity. Some helmet wearers have attach these commercially available video systems to their helmets. This may endanger the wearer, degrade the function of the helmet and void the helmet's manufacturer's warranty.
In view of the ever growing desire and advantage of video recording for sports training and action videos, a need exists for a video camera and football helmet combination that satisfied all relevant safety requirements and standards.